1132. An Outdated Superstar, Just a Young Real Madrid!

The Copa del Rey final is scheduled for mid-April at the Mestagna Stadium in Valencia.

This is still far away on Real Madrid's schedule.

Because the next is La Liga and the Champions League knockout rounds.

The opponent in the round of 16 is Galatasaray from Turkey.

In fact, many fans underestimated the Turkish teams. Similar to Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, the commercial income has always been ranked very high in the major European leagues, and the revenue is even higher. Ranking firmly in the top 20, the overall strength should not be underestimated.

Of course, in terms of overall strength, there is still a very obvious gap with Real Madrid.

...

After playing the Copa del Rey, we ushered in the 24th round of La Liga. Real Madrid challenged Getafe away.

Three goals from Jesse, Dzeko and Pogba helped Real Madrid beat Getafe 3-0 away.

And three days later, in the middle of the week, Real Madrid ushered in the 17th round of La Liga and challenged Valencia away.

In the end, with the goals of Ronaldo, Di Maria and Benzema, Real Madrid defeated the Bats 3-1 away.

Back on the weekend, in the 25th round of La Liga, Real Madrid defeated Elche 4-0 at home.

New aid Yinlia Lamendi scored the first goal after joining Real Madrid.

Insko, Jesse and Dzeko each scored a goal.

...

On the evening of February 25th, Istanbul, Turkey, Turk Telecom Stadium.

In the first round of the UEFA Champions League round of 16, Real Madrid challenged Galatasaray away.

Being able to stand out in the group stage, Galatasaray is not a Turkish giant in the traditional sense, because this team has gathered many famous stars in European football.

For example, Drogba, the king of African elephants, Sneijder, the Dutch midfielder, Felipe Melo, the former Brazilian international, Eboue, the former Arsenal full-back, Riera, the former Liverpool player, and Alten the former Real Madrid player. Top...

These are all famous European players, and their strengths are also extraordinary.

And the head coach is even more remarkable, he is still an old friend of Gao Shen, Mancini.

Galatasaray was able to advance from the group stage as second place. Mancini played a vital role in replacing coach Trim at the beginning of the season.

In this game, Mancini is even more serious.

According to what the Italian said at the pre-match press conference, although Real Madrid is powerful, it takes a lot of time and effort to travel long distances, and the players consume a lot. Galatasaray has the advantage at home and is fully capable of taking down the opponent. .

After the start of the game, the Turkish team took the lead in attacking Real Madrid. They wanted to take advantage of Real Madrid's unstable foothold and take the lead in disrupting Real Madrid's rhythm and strategic deployment.

Gao Shen was also mentally prepared for this situation, but something unexpected happened on the court.

In just two minutes of the opening, Altintop's cross ball was hoisted into the penalty area. Drogba quickly moved forward, and Ramos and Iker Casillas who attacked simultaneously took off and competed for the ball.

Casillas hit the ball first, but his body was knocked out by Drogba firmly and fell to the ground.

After the team doctor entered the field, under the diagnosis and treatment, I saw Casillas struggling to get up again, standing resolutely in front of the goal, saying that he was fine.

But after the team doctor walked out of the stadium, the report to Gao Shen was not very good.

"It hit his waist and triggered his old waist injury. The situation is not very good. I have wrapped him with a bandage, but I don't know how long it can last, and it may even affect his performance."

Gao Shen nodded calmly, waved his hand as a thank you, then turned around and walked back to the bench, signaling Courtois to warm up, "Ready to play at any time."

The Belgian made a gesture of understanding and quickly ran to the sidelines to warm up.

Gao Shen continued to stand in front of the coach of the visiting team, watching the game.

Soon, Melo's sudden long-range shot was very threatening, but Casillas made a side attack and threw the ball straight away, but fell heavily to the ground again.

This time he struggled to his feet.

Judging by the way he supported his waist with his hands and the look on his face, the situation seemed to be getting worse.

"We should let him go." Carlo suggested.

Zidane and Hierro also nodded.

Everyone could see that Casillas was seriously injured.

What is the tonnage of Drogba?

Although the current Ivorian is no longer the invincible monster of the past, he is still a large-tonnage center forward.

Not to mention that Casillas had a waist injury in the first place, even if he was not injured, it would be enough to be hit.

What's more, now, he has shown obvious pain.

"Wait a little longer." Gao Shen shook his head.

"Why?" Carol was puzzled.

On the contrary, Zidane and Hierro, both of professional player background, suddenly guessed a little bit about the profound meaning.

"This decision is up to Casillas himself!"

Carlo was stunned, and understood Gao Shen's intentions.

As the captain of Real Madrid, Casillas has only played in cup games, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey in the past two seasons, while Courtois has dominated the league.

Anyone can see that Courtois is superior in strength and young. It is justifiable to replace Casillas, and it can even be said to be the trend of the times.

Now many people are discussing that Casillas should be sold and Courtois should be supported.

But Gao Shen has always insisted on the principle of playing cup games and playing league matches.

This is his original commitment to Casillas.

But if Casillas is injured and retired now and Courtois is given a chance to play in the cup, it is tantamount to further reducing Casillas' playing time.

The back injury is an old problem, and it won’t get better in a while. It’s okay to retire tonight, but if Courtois performs well, what will happen to Casillas in the future?

Once the balance is broken, it can never go back.

Casillas himself understands this, so he is unwilling to follow the team doctor's arrangement.

Gao Shen knows Casillas too well. As the head coach of the team, he clearly knows what the risks are.

But he believed in his captain.

Even if Galatasaray scored a goal, so what?

...

Gao Shen adjusted the team's defense, allowing the entire formation to retreat appropriately to take care of Casillas.

But the Real Madrid captain's game was still going to be difficult.

Especially in the seventh minute, he was leaning against the side of the pillar, obviously in severe pain, but he still gritted his teeth and persisted, unwilling to give up easily.

Because he knows very well that this is really likely to be his last game.

Ramos and other teammates also came back several times to ask about his situation. Ramos even helped Casillas serve the goal kick, hoping to relieve the pressure on Casillas.

Even Courtois, who warms up on the sidelines from time to time, looks at the captain on the court, as if cheering him on.

But when the game entered ten minutes, everyone could clearly see that Casillas' situation was deteriorating, and at the 13th minute, the Real Madrid captain finally couldn't stand it anymore.

After he called the referee, he took off his gloves and lay straight on the goal line, covering his eyes with one hand, making it difficult to see his expression at this moment.

The referee quickly signaled the stretcher to enter the field.

Real Madrid's players all ran back, helped put Casillas on a stretcher together, and comforted him one by one, firmly believing that he must have a chance to come back.

Yes, he must have a chance to come back.

But at that time, he might not have any chance!

When that moment came, he had to choose between two difficult problems.

Either, serve as a substitute for Courtois, or leave Real Madrid, where he has played for his whole life.

No matter how he chooses, it will be a pain for him!

Before the stretcher left the field, Casillas teared off the captain's armband with red eyes and stuffed it into the hands of his teammate Ramos. After explaining to him a few words, he was carried off.

On the sidelines, Casillas shook Courtois' hand again.

Gao Shen was standing nearby, and he clearly heard Casillas say in a trembling and choked voice: "I'll leave it to you in the future!"

Courtois nodded emphatically and trotted onto the pitch.

Gao Shen smiled and greeted him.

As soon as he saw Gao Shen, Casillas couldn't hold back his tears anymore. He shouted, "Boss", and then burst into tears.

For a while, Gao Shen, Carlo, Zidane, Hierro and others felt sympathetic.

Everyone gets old, and professional players are no exception.

This is the fairest and cruelest thing in the world.

It's like Gao Shen and his Real Madrid at this moment seem to be invincible, but sooner or later, time will deprive Real Madrid of their vigor, passion, and everything, and finally make it an old ball Team.

This is a necessity!

"Don't worry, take good care of your injuries, and I'll return to you in the next round!" Gao Shen patted Casillas on the shoulder and comforted him.

The premise is that he must be able to catch up with the home game of the next round.

Casillas calmed down a little, and walked into the player tunnel with the team doctor and Buenaventura.

...

The injury of the Real Madrid captain seems to represent the end of an era.

Courtois, who came off the bench, was very active and made a wonderful sideways save as soon as he went up, saving the goal for Real Madrid.

And Real Madrid has gradually begun to work hard, especially under the advanced arrangement, after getting familiar with Galatasaray's rhythm and strength, Real Madrid began to strengthen the offensive in the frontcourt.

Yes, the Turkish team has a lot of stars, but they are all old and outdated superstars.

But Real Madrid is just a teenager now.

In the eighteenth minute, Harvey Alonso suddenly sent a long pass to the left side of the penalty area in the frontcourt.

After Ronaldo plugged in at high speed, he intercepted the pass from his teammate before the baseline, brought it back, and passed it back to Toni Kroos.

The German midfielder spotted an extremely narrow gap on the left side of the top of the arc, and passed the ball diagonally to the right side of the penalty area with his left foot.

Di Maria inserted into the right side of the penalty area. When he received the ball before Riera, he made an emergency stop and kicked back with his left foot. After avoiding Riera, he cut the ball in with his left foot and avoided the penalty area Latasaray's central defender, a curve ball with his left foot.

The ball crossed a beautiful arc, penetrated the dense crowd in the penalty area, got into Galatasaray's goal behind him, and hung straight to the upper left corner of the goal.

One to zero, Real Madrid took the lead!